In politics, it is rare to find a direct admission of a change in opinion.
It's rarer still to find a politician who will write, as freshman Rep. Buddy Carter did in the Savannah Morning News, "I was wrong."
It had to do with the Pooler Republican’s trip to the Mexican border, his first fact-finding mission in Congress.
“Before I went, I think I was like most people in my district and I suspect around the country,” Carter said in an interview last week.
“I’m sitting there watching TV and seeing what’s going on and I start hollering at my TV: ‘Build a fence! Build a fence! Build a fence!’ And that’s not the answer.”
Carter’s answer: More technology and personnel at the border. A double-fence makes sense in San Diego, he said, but not in the mountains of Arizona or at the Rio Grande — where citizens from both countries want to enjoy the river.
That also means more money for U.S. Customs and the Border Patrol, which has gone from a $1.5 billion budget in 2005 to $3.6 billion in 2014.
Carter and his fellow House Homeland Security Committee Republicans approved a bill last month to add resources on the border. It also would freeze pay and limit travel for Homeland Security political appointees if they do not completely end illegal border crossings within five years — an ambitious goal to say the least.
Democrats are not keen on the approach.
“Every year more and more funding, more and more Border Patrol agents and equipment,” said Rep. Hank Johnson, a Lithonia Democrat. “And deportations have gone up under this administration. It’s not like the law has not been enforced, and it’s not like we have failed to invest in a secure border.
“We’ve done those things, but the Republicans simply do not want to engage in an honest dialogue about comprehensive immigration reform, so they always revert to trying to strengthen border protection as if we’ve not dealt with that.”
The "comprehensive" bill in the last Congress would have allowed a path to citizenship for some immigrants here illegally and was thus shot down by House conservatives. It also put up $46 billion in new border funding, an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to buy GOP support.
For now, border funding is frozen as congressional Republicans attempt to strike back at President Barack Obama's actions to remove the threat of deportation for many of the immigrants here illegally. The House passed a bill to invalidate Obama's actions on immigration going back to 2011, but Senate Democrats used a filibuster to block it three times last week, demanding a "clean" funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which is set to run out of money Feb. 27.
“I’m not sure that the will of the House will allow that to happen,” Carter said, hoping for some type of “amnesty” swipe from the other chamber. “The House, including myself, is so upset in the overreach of the executive branch.”
With immigration atop the agenda, Carter said “I can’t think of any better trip to have taken” than his border sojourn. He got to know 20 of his colleagues better and, for the first time, set foot in California.
“I’ve been to Canada just once,” the pharmacist and former state senator added. “I’m not a world traveler.”
Keeping it repeal
The U.S. House voted along party lines to repeal Obamacare last week, a whole day after Groundhog Day, lest anyone get the wrong impression.
Republican aides said it was the 67th vote to alter or repeal the law, including eight votes for full repeal. But the important thing was to make sure the freshmen got their "repeal Obamacare" merit badge before this month's recess.
And they were excited, at least according to their press releases. Monroe Republican Rep. Jody Hice was “thrilled.” Evans Republican Rep. Rick Allen was “proud.” Cassville Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk even hailed the repeat vote as “a strong departure from business-as-usual.”
The Senate is expected to take the bill up soon, for the same reason. The forecast calls for a filibuster.
Vote of the week
The House voted 250-173 on Wednesday to require agencies to provide Congress more information about the costs and economic impacts involved in unfunded federal mandates.
Yes: Rick Allen, R-Evans; Buddy Carter, R-Pooler; Doug Collins, R-Gainesville; Jody Hice, R-Monroe; Tom Graves, R-Ranger; Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville; Tom Price, R-Roswell; Austin Scott, R-Tifton; Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County; Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville.
No: Sanford Bishop, D-Albany; Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia; John Lewis, D-Atlanta; David Scott, D-Atlanta.
About the Author